Start a Local SEO Social Media Marketing Business: What To Know

With the fierce competition in the business landscape nowadays, more and more businesses are branching out with their marketing campaigns to make sure they target the right audience and potentially expand their sales.

If you're quite savvy about local search engine optimization (SEO) and social media marketing, you could make it your business to mind other people's social media business. However, it takes more than just savvy to start this venture. You have to be passionately interested in this field of digital marketing, dedicated to keep up with the trends, and ready to pour hours and hours of study and strategizing for your clients' campaign.

Here are five things you need to know to start a local SEO social media marketing business:

1. How to use social media as a marketing tool

From the perspective of a user, social media is used to connect, engage, and even convert your audience. But from a marketer's point of view, you need to discover the "how" in between so that you can bridge your campaign to your audience. As a social media marketer, you must know that you cannot just merely post on Facebook or Instagram and then expect for inquiries and sales to roll in. You must be well aware that you need to carefully strategize your social media activity to engage the right kind of audience.

Webmarketing123 provides a lot of information on digital marketing and how to rank businesses. It's a great site to visit to brush up your skills and knowledge on SEO and marketing.

2. Create a portfolio

It's not enough to say that you are a local SEO and social media marketing expert. You must have the proof to show for it. If you're just getting started, you can pitch your services to a few friends who have businesses. Create a marketing campaign, develop strategies and then track results.

You don't have to charge wildly to start with because you're just beginning and gaining traction. What you want to do is to present something to your potential clients to convince them that you are the person for the job.

3. Craft your business plan

Any business requires some investment to start with. You might begin with investing in equipment, programs, and software, and even further learning for yourself. After which, you also need to create a business plan. The plan serves as your guide on how to run your business, including important details like who's your target market, how much you should charge them for which services, and so on. You should also look into making your business legal by registering it, filing appropriate taxes, and acquiring the required documentation.

4. Scout for potential clients

You're now ready to start making real money. You can start looking locally for clients, as this will help establish your name as a social media marketer. It helps to find a niche you'd like to work with. For instance, you can look for doctors, lawyers, dentists or small business owners to whom you can offer your services.

Additionally, going local helps you achieve better results with a local SEO campaign. Pitch your services to them, telling them that an online presence is essential in keeping their competitive edge in the market, and that having an expert (you) to work on their campaigns can let them focus on the core of their business while you attract clients for them.

5. Get other people on board

You might think it's easy to run a one-person social media marketing business, but as your business expands, you should start looking for people to help you out. This way, you can focus on running the business, while the others work on things like lead generation, content creation, accounting, etc.

Hiring freelancers can be a cost-effective way approach to this because you can set hours and rates, and you don't need to spend more on overhead expenses (such as computers, office space, and Wi-Fi).

Final thoughts

Setting up a local SEO social media marketing business is a great way to earn money especially because businesses are starting to realize the importance of web presence and branding in keeping their ventures up and running. If you believe you have what it takes to help businesses with their marketing needs, then you should consider offering these services so you can earn from what you know and love.

However, you need to set realistic expectations. You should know more than how to manage a Facebook business page; you should also know what goes behind the metrics and statistics, so you create winning strategies for your clients. Additionally, it helps to keep investing in yourself and learning as much you can (even if you think you already know a lot), so you can upgrade your rates and services from time to time.